Cyclist protests removal of barrier bike lane, 1980. The city tore out the lanes, on 6th Ave. and Broadway, only months after installing them.Photo: Moy Wong.

The Lanes That Failed

I was swept away by the thought of what could be when I saw a million bikes in Beijing. And I see two in New York City  on a Sunday. With these words, in November 1980 Mayor Edward Koch removed the barrier-separated bike lanes he had installed one month earlier between Greenwich Village and Central Park.

The 6- to 8-foot wide lanes ran northbound on 6th Ave. and southbound on 7th Ave., Broadway and 5th Ave. Chronically blocked by pedestrians, food vendors and trash, they were shunned by some cyclists, who found riding in traffic more efficient. Taxi and trucking interests protested taking street space for invisible cyclists, although DoT reported both lower accidents and increased riding on 6th Ave.

The last straw for Mayor Koch was when Governor Carey derided him for his bike fetish after a too-close encounter with a cyclist. The lanes, which were conceived and executed without consultation with the bicycling community, were the Mayor's last move on behalf of cycling. This retreat and Koch's escalating hostility to cyclists  culminating in the 1987 Midtown bike ban  set back NYC cycling for a decade. Future bike lane experiments must put a premium on consultation with the cycling community, enforcement of the lanes' integrity, and patience. A one or two month transportation experiment proves nothing.

A remnant of the 1980 bike lanes survives on 6th Ave. between 34th and 35th Streets.